(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – Increasingly radicalized abortionist Democrats are not letting up their fight as the Democratic Party in Virginia, emboldened by its recent off-year election win over the GOP, has just acted to amend the state constitution to “enshrine” abortion as a “fundamental right.”
In the off-year vote earlier this month, Virginia Democrats narrowly regained the House of Delegates and bolstered their majority in the state senate, with their campaign largely focusing on the preservation of abortion access.
Buoyed by this success and upsetting Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s aspirations for consolidated control of Richmond in 2024, Virginia Democrats have swiftly initiated aggressive legislative actions concerning abortion rights, National Review reports.
Charniele Herring, the newly elected majority leader of the Virginia Democrats in the house, pre-filed a constitutional amendment on Monday, aiming to firmly establish a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” in the state’s constitution.
“This right to make and effectuate one’s own decisions about all matters related to one’s pregnancy shall not be denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest and achieved by the least restrictive means that do not infringe an individual’s autonomous decision-making,” the proposal asserts.
This amendment, set to be deliberated in the upcoming General Assembly session in January, signals a significant shift from Virginia’s existing abortion regulations, which currently prohibit abortions post 26 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy, except under certain conditions in the third trimester. Herring’s amendment notably excludes fetal viability from its criteria of state compelling interest.
“A state interest is compelling only when it is to ensure the protection of the health of an individual seeking care, consistent with accepted clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine. The Commonwealth shall not discriminate in the protection or enforcement of this fundamental right,” the amendment further stipulates.
Additionally, the amendment specifies that barring a compelling state interest, Virginia shall not penalize anyone for executing an abortion.
Virginia’s complex process for amending its constitution implies that Herring’s proposal will not be presented to voters until after 2024.
The amendment must be approved by a majority in both the Senate and the House of Delegates for two consecutive years, with an election for the House of Delegates occurring in between, before it can be placed on the ballot.
This amendment appears to diverge from the abortion-related positions many state legislative Democrats, including Democrat House speaker-designee Don Scott, campaigned on during this election cycle.
